


Of Contests and Fate

by Dawn_Blossom



Series: Pokemon AU [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/F, Nohr/Hoshido siblings are the gym leaders but they don't play much of a role here, Pokemon AU, Pokemon Coordinator!Azura, Pokemon Trainer!Corrin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 07:57:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7352566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn_Blossom/pseuds/Dawn_Blossom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Corrin wasn't a big fan of Pokemon contests, but it was lucky she went to this particular show. It would have been a shame to not meet Azura, the most enchanting coordinator that Corrin had ever seen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Contests and Fate

**Author's Note:**

> Every ship needs a Pokemon AU, right? Um, actually, has a Pokemon AU already been written for these two? I haven't been very active on the fanfic scene lately... *ahem* Well, anyway, I hope you'll enjoy my take on it. ^u^
> 
> By the way, if you'd like you can follow my fire emblem tumblr at [the-priestess-of-dawn.tumblr.com](http://the-priestess-of-dawn.tumblr.com)
> 
> And if you like Corrin/Azura a lot like I do, you might be interested in following my Azurrin blog at [azurrin.tumblr.com](http://azurrin.tumblr.com) (yes, I'm super happy about getting the url :D).

Corrin wasn’t normally the type to attend Pokémon contests. While she could admit they had their charms, she found it hard to watch the Pokémon perform without trying to analyze their movesets from a competitive standpoint. Corrin’s brothers and sisters were all gym leaders, and to say they inspired her would be an understatement. However, she aspired to an even greater position: the champion of the Pokémon League. She was always thinking about new battle strategies, and contests, as flashy and fun as they may be, weren’t much help to her.

So, when Corrin found herself in one of the largest cities in the region, she had no intention of attending the contest that was to be held the next day. She only wished to challenge the city’s gym leader, a fire-type specialist by the name of Hinoka. Unfortunately, Hinoka had other plans.

“I’m sorry, but I have to fly a couple of towns over to help my sister. Oh, you’ve already battled Sakura? Well, she says there’s a magnezone encroaching on the town limits, and her normal-type Pokémon aren’t particularly well-suited to handle that kind of thing. Since my fire types can easily take a steel-type opponent out, I told her I’d come take care of it.”

Corrin was disappointed, but she was well-acquainted with the problems gym leaders sometimes faced. (Once, Xander had had to close his gym for a week while he went to argue with a group of scientists refusing to let travelers through a nearby mountain lest someone disturb “Lord Helix”)

Hinoka was very gracious about it, though, promising to battle her as soon as she returned.

“In the meantime, why don’t you check out the Pokémon contest we’re having tomorrow? You can have my ticket since I obviously can’t go.”

And that was how Corrin ended up in the Contest Hall, which was both larger and more densely packed than she had expected.

“There are so many people here,” she said in awe. Beside her, Kana, her sylveon, wrapped a soothing ribbon around her arm.

“It is a Master Rank contest, so I’m not surprised. I imagine the tickets sold out months ago,” a blue-haired woman next to her replied.

Corrin looked over in surprise, not having realized that she had spoken loudly enough to be heard. The blue-haired woman was dressed in a pretty, white outfit, and she was cradling a vaporeon in her arms. A small pin on her shoulder proclaimed her as Contestant No. 24, Azura. 

“Huh, so they’re all like this, then? I’ve never been to one. I got this ticket, uh, rather suddenly, so I can’t say I know that much about contests.” She paused suddenly, realizing that she hadn’t introduced herself yet, and she had no pin to announce her identity. “Uh, I’m Corrin, and I’m more interested in battling, really.”

Azura smiled at her. “It’s nice to meet you, Corrin. I suppose you’re in town for a gym battle? Contests are quite different, but I hope you’ll enjoy the show, anyway. This is my first time competing in the Master Rank, but I trust my Pokémon. It won’t be easy, but we’ll do our best.”

Corrin nodded, pleased with Azura’s attitude. 

“Yeah, that’s the spirit! I’m really looking forward to seeing your performance,” Corrin said enthusiastically. “I’ll be sure to cheer for you,” she promised.

“Thank you. I appreciate the support,” Azura replied. The vaporeon in her arms let out a happy chirp, and Kana responded with a trill, making Corrin and Azura smile at their Pokémon partners.

“I guess I’d better get to my seat,” Corrin said, gathering Kana into her arms. “If I can even find it in this chaos,” she continued with a laugh.

“A difficult task, no doubt,” Azura said, her gentle smile softening the otherwise sarcastic remark. “I’m supposed to be going backstage now, myself. Perhaps we’ll run into each other later; if not, this is where we say farewell.”

Corrin gave a little wave, Kana mimicking the motion with his feelers. “Go wow those judges, Azura!” she said cheerfully. Turning around, she made her way towards the crowd of people getting their tickets checked.

As it turned out, Corrin’s seat was in the front row. Apparently, Hinoka was able to get such close seats at a reasonable price due to her status as a gym leader. Corrin decided that she needed to tell Elise about this later. Her younger sister would surely appreciate the opportunity to attend a contest at a lower price. Corrin’s siblings, despite being gym leaders, were possessed of much less money than the general public assumed, as the majority of their league-provided salaries went towards running the gym and paying challengers.

Thoughts of her family were soon pushed aside, though, as the stage in front of her suddenly lit up. A spotlight appeared on the center of the stage as a gray-haired man explained the basic rules of the contest. Corrin could see the people beside her looking disinterested; this clearly wasn’t their first show. Corrin tried to memorize the rules being listed, but they quickly became blurred together in her mind, so she gave up and let her gaze wander around the stage. Three judges sat at a table near the edge of the stage, and they appeared to be whispering to each other. Thick curtains hid the backstage activities from view, but she knew that the contestants would soon be pouring out from them.

In the center of the stage, the announcer finished his introduction to a round of polite applause. The stage darkened, and when it lit up again, the first contest walked out amidst excited shouts and thunderous applause.

Corrin could admit that the contestants and their Pokémon were all very skilled. Every performance was aesthetically pleasing in its own way, but nothing really stood out to her.

That is, until she saw Azura perform.

Azura’s vaporeon stood in front of her. Behind the two of them was a gardevoir. Corrin gasped as she realized that it was a shiny gardevoir. The blue and white of the gardevoir complemented Azura’s own blue and white theme, and Corrin cheered loudly as the gardevoir gave a deep bow to its trainer.

After the cheering died down, a beautiful melody started playing. As Azura began to dance, her vaporeon let out a stream of water. The gardevoir, who was mirroring its trainers movements, began to glow softly as its psychic powers manipulated the water into silvery ribbons that swirled around them in the air.

“Incredible! That gardevoir is using a psychic attack while continuing to dance without a single misstep!” the announcer said to the crowd. Corrin frowned, not liking that he was speaking over the music.

As the dance continued, the vaporeon released an ice beam, freezing the water suspended in the air. With psychic, the gardevoir arranged the ice into different shapes, finishing with a large block of ice. Using the block as a platform, Azura seamlessly continued the dance. She gave a final twirl and leaped into the air. Her gardevoir now used its psychic on her, allowing her to twirl infinitely in the air. Her vaporeon, now positioned next to the gardevoir, created a large shadow ball and sent it flying into the ice, causing it to shatter into thousands of glittering pieces as Azura slowly descended downwards.

The crowd went wild, but Corrin felt frozen in her seat. In the spotlight, Azura looked like a glowing angel. She met her eyes, and Azura smiled widely… but was it for Corrin, or the judges? Either way, Corrin decided that she would do anything if it would make Azura smile like that again.

Some part of her was aware that Azura’s performance was not the final one, and that there were many contestants following her. But they all paled so much in comparison to Azura that Corrin found it difficult to keep paying attention. She knew that everyone else had worked just as hard to get there. She just couldn’t bring herself to invest herself in what they were doing.

When it came time for the audience’s vote, there was no question in Corrin’s mind who she wanted to win.

Unfortunately, it seemed the judges had other plans. Azura did extremely well, coming in second, but ultimately the judges gave the most points to a coordinator named Naga whose flygon and noivern created a powerful but controlled sandstorm on stage. 

Corrin wanted to go find Azura after the contest officially ended so she could congratulate her on her amazing performance, but there were so many people swarming around her (she did get second place, after all) that she couldn’t get very close.

Azura did see her, though. The coordinator waved her over, causing the crowd to part just enough to let her through.

“Oh, who’s this?” one of the reporters asked.

“This is my friend. Please, don’t bother her.”

Corrin was surprised to hear that, considering that they had only met that day, but she wasn’t going to complain. The reporter looked surprised as well.

“You’re always so distant with everyone. I didn’t think you were the type to have friends,” the reporter said. Corrin glared at the woman. How tactless could a person be?

“Excuse me, Azura is a great friend,” Corrin interrupted. She was extremely protective of those she cared about, and it didn’t matter that she knew very little about her new friend; she wasn’t going to let some nosy reporter disrespect her.

The reporter spared Corrin only the briefest of dirty glances before turning back to Azura. “Why don’t we go somewhere a little more private, hm? That way we can chat in peace.”

The other reporters started raising their voices in outrage.

“I’m getting an exclusive interview!”

“Oh please, you only want to talk to her because Naga won’t speak to you. I think Azura is a star and I am going to interview her.”

“You can’t just monopolize her time like this!”

“Why can’t she just stay here and talk to all of us?”

Azura seemed to shrink back. Her uncertain gaze found Corrin’s and she mouthed the words “please help.”

Corrin sent a glare to each and every reporter (not that most of them saw), and pushed forward, grabbing Azura’s hand.

“Excuse me, everyone,” Corrin said loudly, her voice carrying over the complaints of the reporters. “But I’m afraid Azura has to leave with me right away. We have dinner plans, see, and since it’s been just forever since we’ve gotten a chance to see each other, I’m going to have to insist that we not miss them.”

“Yes, we have to go. Sorry,” Azura said, not sounding sorry at all. Hiding a chuckle with her free hand, Corrin gently pulled Azura out the door and towards the Pokémon Center. She released the coordinator’s hand only when she was certain they hadn’t been followed.

“Thank you,” Azura said. Corrin was happy to see a smile grace her features, even if it was only a small one.

“Hey, what are friends for?” she responded with a good-natured laugh. “Man, you’d think those people were hunters, not reporters. What’s wrong with them; shouldn’t they know better than to act like that?”

Azura shrugged. “It was my first Master Rank Contest and I came in second. It draws interest. I also tend to give only a few sentences in response to reporters. Any of them would kill to get their hands on a full-length interview with me.”

Corrin crossed her arms and frowned. 

“I like to see the best in people, but that’s ridiculous. They could have asked you politely.”

Azura shook her head slightly. “They aren’t being cruel; they merely crave the opportunity to cover a popular story. When things settle down, I’ll probably talk to them a little.”

“Azura, you’re a saint.” Corrin laughed, her posture relaxing. As she grew quiet again, she began to notice a low rumbling sound coming from… oh…

“I kind of forgot that it actually is dinner time,” Corrin said awkwardly, clutching her stomach as if to muffle the sound.

“Oh my, it is that time, isn’t it? We should find a place before everything gets too crowded.” Azura replied, glancing up at the sunset-colored sky. “You said you were only in the city for the gym, didn’t you? I’ve been here for a few weeks, so I know a few nice places where we can eat. What do you like?”

Corrin blinked in surprise. “Uh, what?” Then her eyes widened in realization. “Oh, oh! I’m sorry; I didn’t mean… We don’t actually have to eat together if you don’t want to,” she said apologetically. 

“Please, it’s the least I can do after you’ve helped me so much. At least let me buy you a meal.” She paused suddenly, glancing quickly at Corrin and then away. A faint pink tinge came over her cheeks. “Oh, forgive me, I didn’t even ask if you had plans. We can do this some other time, if you’d like. Perhaps if we exchanged numbers…”

“I don’t have any plans!” Corrin blurted quickly, her rising blush mimicking Azura’s. “But we’d better get each other’s number, anyway. In case, uhhhh, we get lost in a crowd?”

“Of course,” Azura agreed, giggling.

* * *

Hours later, they emerged from a cozy diner. As they parted ways (with a promise to meet up again before leaving the city), Corrin decided that while the food had been good, the company was much better.

If, on her way back to the Pokémon Center, she paused to buy a magazine that just happened to have a photo of a smiling Azura on its cover, well, that was her business. (She just needed a contact photo for her; that was all. Really.)


End file.
